Chapter 23: Ryuusen 1

"My god that's a big ass boat," Parc muttered in astonishment standing upon the wharf where the cruise liner unironically called the 'Ryuusen' due to its giant dragon shaped figure head. Besides him, Bulat was standing invisible to all from the trump card ability that allowed him to do such.

They had been sent here a few days prior to keep watch over some official who was leaving the empire. A political opponent of Prime Minister Honest. Normally, being a protection detail was not on the list of things Night Raid was set to do. But that changed the moment numerous murders of officials in the Empire were pinned on Night Raid by someone likely working for the Prime Minister himself.

Akame and Lubbock had been sent to protect a second official that Najenda thought would be just as much of a target for these imposters. While here he and Bulat were, about to hop onto a cruise liner to spend a few days dealing with some posh pricks. Fun…

"Their boarding," Parc announced seeing the first of the people climbing the ramp onto the ship. And though he couldn't see Bulat, he knew he was likely following right behind him. Just as he was about to lift his foot onto the ramp, he paused, memories flooding to him, but quickly sealing them off. 'Can't get hung up on that now."

***

"I hope I don't seem rude by asking this. But why is it that you seemed so hesitant about coming aboard?"

"You saw that?" Parc sighed, looking to where he felt Bulat to be standing in his armour.

"I never miss anything about you." Parc flinched, hoping he had misheard 'my team' with 'you.'

Parc backed a single step away, turning to look over the crowd with crossed arms. "I don't have any good memories of balls or parties with the rich types. You may not think it, but back home, my mother was something of a queen to the people. Not an actual one mind you. More in the terms of she was high up in the ranks of nobility."

"After she fell in love with an outsider and gave birth to me. She brought me to a ball like this to meet my aunts for the first time in… five, six years." Parc could feel the eyes of his aunt's locking onto him, all but one showing pure condemnation of what he was. And even the one who didn't seem to hate him on first sight looked to despise him but kept as much of it hidden for his mothers sake.

"It was a horrible experience for both of us. Most of my aunts ignored me. Only one even looked at mom and even spoke to her but when mom brought me up to introduce me, she just speaking with mother about how she was doing…" Parc sucked in a breath through his teeth, causing a light whistle, "…and then she said it wasn't too late to get rid of me and to return to them. To forsake her only child. To forsake her husband who later abandoned us two years later." Parc grit his teeth, digging his nails into his fists

"Mother slapped her so hard she went sprawling to the ground in shock. In fighting between mom and her sisters was practically non-existent, even just accidentally knocking into the other was tantamount to a months long silent treatment. But a slap? That was excommunication. She was thrown from their order, had any armour or gold she had stockpiled taken away, it was a miracle we even got to keep the house. Though… we lost that after my father left."

Parc gripped his chin, tilting his head to the side until his neck popped, "so yeah, add that with the mocking laughter of the other guests. You have a trauma that sticks with a kid even into adulthood."

Bulat was silent for a few moments, "I… am sorry that happened to you."

"Don't be," he chuckled, "you weren't there. I'm over it for the most part. Still have a few lingering grudges with those aunts of mine that I'm planning to deal with after this is all over." Parc smiled, weakly.

"It is good that you are seeking to make things up with them." Bulat slapped a hand down on Parc's shoulder with a little too much force. A tingle ran through Bulat's body, a sign that his invisibility was going to run out.

"Ah, it seems my invisibility is at its limit. I need to take the armour off." Bulat began to turn away from Parc, the slight sound of his footsteps on the wood alerting Parc he was leaving.

"Go ahead, I'll keep watch out here," and though he couldn't see it, Parc felt that the chances Bulat was waving to him was high.

Now alone, Parc leaned against the ships hull, cold eyes staring off into the sky as the sound of a recorder flowed into his ears. "Yes… 'make up'…" he snorted, as if he'd ever forgive them.

***

"Huh, so its not knocking them out," Parc muttered, kneeling besides one of the women who had collapsed onto the ground along with all the other guests. Her eyes open but blank as if she had no will left to do anything. "Scream… is it?" he had read through the book of teigu a few times by now and the only one he could think of that could do such a thing was scream. A flute shaped teigu that could control emotions through a form of hypnosis. Which Parc had learned many months ago when he first encountered had having less of an affect on him than others.

'Something to do with my heritage?' He pondered never really having thought about it till now, stroking his chin with a frown, "doubt it came from mom… so father? Strange…" he pushed off his knees and stood upright. Hearing dull thudding footsteps approaching him from the back of the deck.

"Parcie, Parcie, Parcie. Its good to see you again. I missed you." The familiar, if not grating sound of Daidara, the tank of Esdeath's three beasts said. His pure white eyes shining in the darkness of the night.

"So, it's you three then? The ones who've been pretending to be Night Raid?" he asked the obvious, not really needing an answer as a sheathed sword came flying towards him, taken by Daidara from one of the soldiers lying on the ground without any will in them to even utter a thing to him.

Catching it out of the air, Parc sighed, "still the battle fanatic I see."

"Ohohoho." Daidara shook his head, gripping at his stomach with a hated grin, "after that negative experience you gave me. This is just revenge. The experience points are secondary." Daidara lifted his teigu, Belvaac the double bladed axe.

Gripping it in both hands a cracking noise came from belvaac as the axe separated down the middle, forming into two single axes. Parc raised an eyebrow, "already? Thought you'd want to break stuff first."

"Oh," Daidara's arm shot back, "I do," he flung it forward, sending a single axe spinning towards Parc in a straight line. Parc groaned, he always hated this part of Belvaac. Ducking under it, he felt it scratch against his hair, severing a few strands. As he was about to turn and deal with the returning axe blade, Daidara made his move, lunging forward to swing his single sided axe at Parc.

"Always so… blunt…" Parc groaned, easily dodging out of Daidara's bulrush. Spinning on his heel while rushing behind Daidara, unsheathing the sword he'd been so graciously given and cut a clean gash into Daidara's flesh all in the blink of an eye.

Daidara didn't fall just yet, a single foot reaching in front of the other to cath himself as he shimmied to the side, letting his returning axe fly straight past him on a collision course with Parc.

"Always the same with you." Parc once again rushed away from it, body low to the ground, Daidara's teeth sharpening in hatred, blocking Parc's upwards slash. Except, the moment the blade struck his axe, it pinged off into the distance.

'What!?' Daidara's mind screamed as all of a sudden he found his vision flying through the air. Catching just a small glimpse of Parc standing besides his upright, headless body, a single bloody dagger in his hand.

"Always were the weakest of us," Parc scowled, kicking the body to the ground.

It was a quick fight, barely a few minutes in length. But when one knew your opponent well enough from a months long gruelling training regime against them. You should be able to put a dagger to their neck and let the blood flow.

Turning back to the ship, Parc could only groan at the familiar face in the distance along with another face he wasn't familiar with though, the one wearing it, he was more than accustomed with… unfortunate as that was.

"Nyau… Liver…" He looked between the pipsqueak cat wannabe and the tall grey haired, mustached gentlemen. Can't say it's a pleasure seeing you two again." Parc unsheathed his second dagger, knowing full well he was going to need it in a two on one fight. 'just need to hold on till Bulat gets here.'

"Parc, it certainly has been a while." Liver said as he stroked his mustache, the sapphire of his dragon head shaped ring glinting in the moon light.

"Yeah! I thought you were going to send us a letter at least once!" Nyau said, letting the skinned face he got from some poor sod hang down in one hand. Puffing his cheeks up angrily.

'As if I'd ever send you a letter you crazy face stealer.' He retorted in his head. Prepping his daggers for an attack.

Liver squinted and jumped out of the way as a large, red tipped spear and an armour clad man raced past, nearly skewering Nyau if he hadn't done the same.

"That armour… so you truly have joined Night Raid, Bulat." Liver said landing on the ground. Nyau on the opposite side of him.

"General Liver. I could barely believe it when Parc told us about you being one of Esdeath's soldiers. Were we not enemies I would have enjoyed sharing a drink with you. But I must kill you, the mission above all else." Bulat spun his spear in his hands.

Liver held his hand out, palm facing the floor in a martial arts pose, a glint appearing from his ring. The barrels of water around the deck beginning to shake, "you took the words right out of my mouth. Come Bulat, let me see how you have changed." The two ignored both Parc and Nyau, launching into their own fierce fight as barrels shattered, the water within bursting free, contorting into jets of water shaped to the likeness of serpentine dragons.

Parc had watched the intense battle take place. But his attention was soon drawn away, he had another issue to deal with. One that was currently rushing towards him with his flute held like a mace. Parc lifted a single dagger to divert the attack, bringing his other down in a swift jab that just narrowly nicked the side of Nyau's body.

"I knew I remembered that hideous tune from somewhere," Parc calmly said, giving a light flourish of his dagger sending the droplets it had collected from Nyau's body spattering against the deck.

"Moh! I've been practicing!" Nyau stomped his foot down. Raising the flute to his lips with a cruel and insane grin, "I've REALLY been practicing." Nyau began to play an ominous melody, a staccato reverbing through his body as he rapidly grew in height, his muscles bulging and defining, turning the usually miniature boy into a giant that could stare over Parc's head.

"See, now I don't have to worry about timing OUT!" Nyau rushed forward, arm thrown back, unleashing an air cracking punch in Parc's direction. Parc himself had never fought Nyau when he was in this state before, but he did know that the sense this trump card of his teigu, gave him a bloated ego, thinking himself unstoppable.

And that… that was something Parc could not allow. With a skin scrating lean of his head to the side, Parc avoided the punch, simultaneously cutting his blade upwards, severing straight through Nyau's muscular arm, sending it to the ground, rapidly shirivelling up into a more normal sized limb for the face stealer.

"GYAAAAAAHHHH!" Nyau fell to his knees, gripping at his now stump of an arm, never had he felt such agony and shock.

"Yeah, don't worry, it won't hurt for much longer." Parc's dagger flickered, severing through Nyau's back, impaling him in the heart, putting the psychobrat down in one fell swoop.

Parc sighed, letting the air in his lungs escape him before sucking in a single long one. Turning to the ongoing battle of Bulat and Liver. Water dragons abound, rended into two by Bulat only for Liver to summon more.

Suddenly, Parc heard shifting water behind him. Turning his head his cheek twitched, "spiteful old bastard," he grunted, both his arms rocketing to cover his face as a thick water jet slammed into him, dragging him across the deck and over the side before dissipating, leaving Parc on a pained decent to the river waters below.

"PARC!" He heard Bulat shout from up high.

Parc shifted in the air slightly, intense pain coursing through his arms, it didn't feel like anything was fractured or broken. But that could easily change the moment he crashed into the water with this velocity.

"Fuck you Newton…" Parcs body curled into a ball, he couldn't maneuver at all to get into diving position, so the least he could do was protect his precious organs.

***

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Not my best piece, but it puts some things into motion for the future.

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Ps. I need character ideas for the aunts. So feel free to suggest. Keep them to the mature side, their supposed to be unparalleled beauties within Parc's home world. (Also, considering I loved God of War so much I'm thinking like 8 aunts or something like that, have him go around 'collecting their helmets' like Kratos, except not like Kratos.)

Also, i'm looking for an image for Parc's mother. tags are, blonde hair, blue eyes, milf/mature. Fire away

Also, Also, for everyone doing suggestions it doesn't just have to be the other things i've listed. If you've got a drawing or someones artwork that you'd like to see as a character, feel free to send that in. Either with a name and backstory or without, then I just make a few OC's out of them.